DPRK poses "potentially existential threat": US intelligence chief

Sandy Schultz

This has been stated by Daniel Coats, the director of the National Intelligence of the United States, The Economic Times reports. Pyongyang's actions show "Kim does not intend to negotiate" an end to his weapons program "at any price".

US officials are unsure if Iran will build nuclear weapons, but it is likely this intention would dictate Tehran's future adherence to the nuclear deal, which the administration of former President Barack Obama framed in such a way as to leave out the issue of ballistic missiles.

He described Russian Federation as a "major threat" to USA government, military, diplomatic, business and critical infrastructure and said the country will keep up its attacks after seeking to influence the 2016 presidential vote.

"If the DPRK had not had access to the powerful nuclear force and had not gotten itself ready to counter the USA and its vassal forces' provocation with merciless military counteraction, the US would have committed without hesitation the same aggression act in Korea as what it committed against other countries", the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying on May 1.

US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said on Thursday that even if the US and its allies increase their military aid to the war-torn country, the security situation there is still likely to deteriorate.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo, also testifying, said that China has been exerting pressure on North Korea "in a way that they have not made before" and has significantly cut coal imports from the country.

"Afghanistan will struggle to curb its dependence on external support until it contains the insurgency or reaches a peace agreement with the Taliban", Coats told lawmakers in presenting an annual assessment of threats to U.S. national security.

The prosecutors called for the arrests and extraditions of those they say led or were involved with "the disgusting state-sponsored crime". The report said that Iran is continuing to develop ballistic missiles, which are "inherently capable of delivering [weapons of mass destruction]". The performance of Afghan national security forces will worsen because of weak military leadership, desertions and combat casualties, he predicted.

The Trump administration is considering sending 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to help train Afghan security forces.

"Kabul's political dysfunction and ineffectiveness will nearly certainly be the greatest vulnerability to stability in 2017", he wrote in a 26-page statement summarizing the yearly joint report to Congress by the nation's intelligence agencies delivered ahead of his committee appearance.

Coats said China was also targeting the U.S. government and American businesses. -Chinese agreement addressing cybertheft.

The post North Korea poses "existential" threat, USA intel chief warns appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

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